Writing instrument of the ball tip type



June 23, 1959 )H. R. FEHLING WRITING INSTRUMENTS OF THE BALL TIP TYPE Filed Aug. 12. 1954 s Sheets-Sheet I June 23, 1959 I H. R. FEHLING 2,891,511

- WRITING INSTRUMENTS 0? THE BALL TIP TYPE Filed Aug. 12. 1954 Q SSheets-Sheet 2 June 23, 195 R. FEHLING msmum-zurs 0 THE BALL TI Filed Aug. 12. 1 eats-Sheet 3 June 23, 1959 H. R. FEHLING WRITING INSTRUMENTS OF THE BALL TIP TYPE 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Aug. 12. 1954 Lav enter .HTZiFahZzQzz I ,1

June'23, 1959 H. R. FEHLING 2,891,511

WRITING INSTRUMENTS OF THE BALL TIP TYPE Filed Aug. 12, 1954 v 5 Sheds-Sheet a I102) ere/tor United States Patent 2,891,511 WRITINGINSTRUIVIENTS 'OF THE BALL TIP TYPE Hans'Reinhard Fehling, London, England, assignor to D. C. B. Limited, London, England Application August 12', 1954, Serial No; 449,404-

Claims' priority, application Great Britain August 13, 1 953 6 Claims. (Cl. 120-4231) The'inv'ention concerns improvements in and relating to' tli'ose'writing instruments which are generally known as ballpoint pens and'which have a writing. extremity or tip in which an ink track layingba-ll1isrevolub1y retained and protrudes from a socket orhousingto the base of which a feed'duct opens for supplying ink to the housing and ball" from a reservoir connected or con nectable to the tip. 7

These improvements are directed to the*provisionof: new methods o'f -manufacturingball point this calculated to expedite their production with -a uniformly Higlfd'eg-ree of accuracy; a new mode of seating the -ball' in it li ing and the prevention of the" creeping of 'certa along the exterior of the tip-oralong other surfaces} Hitherto it has been the practice to-nianutaeture bail point tips of the type described by machiri and/or punching operations on automatic lath'e's' botli of which operations require skill ed labor for-setting" and incur a certain percentage of rejects a d loss' ih' swarf or scrap. Moreover it is difficult to obtain a un'iforin high-degree of accuracy" at high production r-ates;-- A'ccbrdingly for some time there; has been a need or desire for a better and more efficient mode of manufacture which weulzreemeine great uniformity and accuracy with a high rate' 'of production whilebeing capable of Heing'carried ontfyith-less' skilled labour;

- D e=castingpresents itselfas an attractive modestrolein that hithert'o'it has not-been practicable to'die cast satisfactorily so small an article asia ballpoint writing instrumenttip; having the internal c'onfigurationiand'ac curacynequired', the-customary; metals or alloys used in" die c asting" and deemed suitable forthe' present" purpo'se; vizi, aluminium and'zi'n'c alloys. Die ca'sting'sproduced' in any of these metals" require subsequent machining" an'd"if this is required; die-casting w'ejum? present little or no" advantage over production wlioll'y by-ma'chining. Acc'ordinglyfin aim' of the present invention is the production of a" finished tip 'carcass'or bodyportibmby die-casting alone with no" machining:

With" a View to" solving thedie-c'asting problem the inventorhascaused experiments'to'be carried out and has found that for die-casting-'thesmalland intricat'e'tips, the casting rtietal must have the following characteristics: a

relatively-low melting point and goodflow properties at 2,891,51 l Patented June 23,v 1959 the plane of the equator of the ball and a feed duct opening, which communicates with the-base of said housing, affording ball seating-edge(s) common to the duct and the base or truncation surface of'the housing,-of noncircular (preferably polygonal) form in plan.

The preferred die-casting v structurefor producinga writing instrument tip in tin alloy comprises an outer mould suitably shaped for the external contour of the tip, a one-piece die core member corresponding to the shaping chosen for the ball housing and feed duct, and terminating at the transverse plane of the housing and duct opening, andan opposed die core means extendingto said plane and corresponding with thechosen form of the ink supply passage from the reservoir to said feed duct.

In reference to the production ofball pointwriting instrument tips by die-casting the'term-tin alloy asused herein and in the claims means an alloy-in which tin is alloyed with a hardening metal or metals in proportions such as to preserve the low temperature flow characteristics, the high temperature volatilisation and slowness of oxidationof tinto an extent sufiicient toenable tips having-consistent accuracy of shape to-be produced by die-casting, notwithstandingtheir smallsize while at the same time such tips have adequate Wear-resisting qualities.

ltis'well knownthat in. ball point pens ink: is. liable toaccumulate around the protruding portion; of the ball and the adjacent rim of the ball housing; This accumulation'isnot fundamentally objectionable since it is partially, ifnot wholly, taken up in therevolution and counter revolution-of. the ball in writin'g butwithfoily or nondrying or non-congealing inks, especially inks made-with certain' dyes, 61g. oil-soluble Victoria Blue, there-iszag'tendency for some of this accumulation (particularly if such becomes excessive such; as when,.dueto wear, the clearance-between the ball and of the housing is increased and the flow of ink is becoming freer. than normal to spread orcreep along theexter-ior surfaceof the tip-which the-fingers-of the writer are liable to come in contact'and become contaminated.

The oily or non-drying or noncongealing inks referred toherein are suchas contain an-oleaginous solvent'for instance olein, castor oil-,', ricinoleic acid v or a: combination thereof), anadhesive- .thickener (for instance colophony) or eliminating. this nuisance and with a. view to solving this ink creep problem the'inventor has caused to be carried out many experiments toascertain whether any particular character of surface wasless susceptible to ink creepthan another and has found that. tin. or a tin alloy affords a surface which inhibitsthecreep of oily or nondrying or non-congealingv inks:

It will be evident from the" above, therefore; that tin may be employed to solve both the problem-of die"- casting ball point tips and that concerned with ink -creep.

As. ink creep-makes itself evident onathe exterior sur face of" the tip the benefit of the ink creepi'inhibit i'on may be 'achievedby' making the tip as-a Whole of a -suitabletinalloy' or by plating o'rcoating the exterior 'of 'a nib made of any metal or material 'includingf'apla'sti c such as nylon'fwith'tinortin alloy;

3 Accordingly the invention embraces a ball point tip having at least a smooth exterior surface or a portion of the exterior surface of tin alloy.

With respect to the inhibition of ink creep as discussed herein the term non-creep tin alloy means a metal in which tin (or another metal having like ink creep inhibiting properties to that of tin) is present in proportions such as to endow the writing instrument tip with the said ink creep inhibiting property, and it is to be understood that the term also includes the more or less pure metaltin (or other creep inhibiting metal) when used for plating or surfacing the exterior of a tip made of any material susceptible of being so coated.

A further feature of improvement is concerned with a mode of forming base seatings for the ball within its housing and this improvement consists in shaping ball seatings on non-circular or polygonal edges of the opening common to the duct and the base or truncation surface of the housing, by bringing axial pressure to bear on the ball when inserting in the housing and lying on the said edges, automatically to produce arcuate indentations on the said edges corresponding with or forming counterparts of fractions of the ball sphere.

The accompanying drawings illustrate, by way of example, structural forms of a ball point writing instrument tip and tools for the production of such according to preferred modes of carrying the improvements into effect, the figures in the drawings being all drawn to a considerably enlarged scale.

Figure 1 is a part longitudinal section and outside elevation, of a ball point tip carcass or body portion (minus the ball) showing the ball housing and adjacent feed duct according to one form of the invention with suitable ink supply passages or ducts of larger size which lead from an ink reservoir of the known kind (not shown).

Figure 2 is an end view of a tip according to Figure 1 looking from the right-hand of the figure.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary outside elevation of a die core for producing by die-casting the ball housing and feed duct as seen in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an end view of the die core seen in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a longitudinal section (with a ball preliminarily inserted in position) of the outer fragment of a tip such as seen in Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a similar view to Figure 5 but with the ball in position and impressed into the edge of the feed duct to form the base seatings for the ball and the constriction of the housing rim for retaining the ball in position and forming lateral seatings above and below the equator of the ball.

Figure 7 is a plan view according to Figure 6 with the ball omitted to show the impressed or indented partial spherical base seatings.

Figure 8 is a sectional diagrammatic elevation representing a mould with the die core means in position, for die-casting the tip.

Figure 9 is a plan view of the mould according to Figure 8.

Figure 10 is an elevation partly in section of the tools for securing the ball revolubly in position, the lower part of the figure showing tip supporting means and the upper part of the figure illustrating the tool for peening or constricting the outer rim of the socket or housing in the outer end of the tip upon the ball.

Figure 11 is a detail fragmentary sectional view of the outer end portion of the tip shown in Figure 10 with the constricting tool in the operative position, and

Figure 12 is an elevation partly in longitudinal section of a ball point tip with a conventional form of reservoir attachment sleeve, illustrating the application of an ink creep inhibiting area provided in the form of a surface layer or coating. In the sectional portion a full length area is coated while in outside elevation the ink inhibit ing area is confined to the part adjacent the ball.

The tip structure shown in Figure 1 is of the usual exterior configuration, its extremity being tapered at an angle a which conveniently is 62. At this end the tip 1 is formed with a cavity or socket 2 which constitutes the ball housing, the flanks or walling 3 of which being steeply conical and tapering inward with an included angle b of about 10, the reason for which will be explained below. The base 4 of the cavity may be fiat and viewing the cavity as a truncated cone the portion 4 lies in the truncation plane. If the tip is intended to accommodate a ball of 1 mm. in diameter then the base of the cavity is suitably 0.037 inch in diameter. The depth of the cavity is such that when the ball is dropped into it, the equator of the ball lies below the outer end or rim of the cavity (see Figures 5 and 6). Leading to the housing cavity there is a feed duct 5 having an opening to the housing of substantially triangular form as seen in plan in Figure 2. The edges 5a of the opening are common to the duct and the base 4 of the housing and the walls of this feed duct are also suitably tapered in the same sense as the housing, the taper being suitably of an included angle of 10.

The following dimensions will serve as a guide in forming a nib according to the invention:

A core pin A for insertion in the mould for diecasting the ball housing 2 and feed duct 5 is shown in Figures 3 and 4. This core pin, which may conveniently have a shank 6, has a conical part 7 which forms the taper walling 3 of the housing cavity 2 and has an extension or further part 8 which forms the feed duct 5 with a non-circular feed duct opening which in this instance is in substance a triangle. It will be seen that the part 8 may be formed by grinding tapered flats 9 to form the facets of the triangle on to a conical extension of the part 7. These flats do not quite meet at sharp corners but leave between them faces 10 of arcuate or fragmentary conical form cutting off the corners of the triangle. In the die-cast writing instrument tip these faces 10 form and correspond with the faces 11 of the feed duct 5 (see Figures 1 and 2). The meeting of the core pin faces 9 with the base or truncation portion of the part 7 for forming the housing 2 are preferably radiussed as at 9a so that the edges 5:: of the duct opening are correspondingly slightly rounded.

The feed duct 5 leads at the end away from the bail housing into an ink supply passage 12 which may be of circular cross-section and is conveniently of larger diameter than the duct 5. This passage 12 is tapered in the opposite direction to that of the feed duct 5 the angle of the taper 0 being suitably at least 1 to provide the draw necessary for the extraction of a core pin or die means which is oppositely disposed with respect to the housing and duct forming core pin when located in the die-casting mould described below. In turn the passage 12 leads into another passage 13 which preferably is of slightly larger size than the passage 12 and which may also be tapered and serves as a socket for the reception of an ink reservoir of known character. In addition, the conical shoulder 12a may serve to sup- '5 port the nib 611 8ii =53iVil ili s'fii i ll-il'iif'i the socket 13) during the pe ning' t constricting; operation described below. The passage 12 and socket 13are formed by a core pjinB (seeFigure ST Wliichmay'have a shank-similir to the slia'nk"6' oftlfe die'A. It will therefore be appreciated that" whereas" the" housing cavity 2 and the feed duct will" iii die-castifig'be formed by'the co're (Figures? '4) capable o'fi b'eing extracted axiiill'y from'lfhe die-cast tip" by'a movement to the right inFigure 1, tlrepassag'es' 12 and 13 are formed by the core pin B whieliiis exti a'cted'by movement to the left orrigure 4, c. l

' The-die-casting mould parts are; assembled. The core pinA- for the liousing and feed duct is introduced in positioncoaxially with and opposite to the core pin B forthepassa ges 12; f3 (see Figures 8 and 9) within a mould block C bored to provide a recess for forming the external shape chosen for the nib and to provide entries for the core pins A and B. The respective core pins meet in the plane A-A which coincides with the opening of the feed duct 5 to the base 4 of the ball housing. The block C is housed in divisible casing members D and D through which a conduit 14 is provided for the injection of the casting alloy.

The mould is charged with a tin alloy having suitable proportions of tin to provide the characteristics referred to above and a proportion of another metal or metals adapted to provide the required hardness in the cast nib. Alloys comprising 84% tin and 16% antimony or 89% tin, 9% antimony and 2% cadmium are suitable for producing a good diecasting, and it has been found that such alloys also possess ink creep inhibiting properties.

After the tip carcass body has been cast and the dies A and B extracted, it is removed from the mould and is ready for the insertion of the writing ball and completion of the tip according to the description below. This description will also serve as instructions for the improved mode (referred to above) of forming on edges, such as 5a, ball base seatings which automatically conform to the sphere of the ball, whether the carcass of the tip (with non-circular or polygonal edges 5a) be produced in metal by die-casting or by machining or by coring with punching tools in known manner, or coring by injection moulding in nylon or other suitable plastic by the use of core forming dies similar to those described above.

The writing ball is dropped into the cavity 2 where it lies on the three edges 5a of the triangular opening of the feed duct 5 (see Figure 5). In this attitude the equator 15 of the ball is below the edge of the lip 16 and the conical wall 3 of the cavity is preferably closely spaced from the periphery of the ball. Thereafter by a suitable peening or swa-ging operation the lip or rim 16 of the cavity is constricted around the ball to retain it and form part-spherical lateral seatings which extend both above and below the equator of the ball (as at 17a and 17b, Figure 6). The lower limit of the lateral seatings will always lie below the equator of the ball because as wear takes place the lateral seatings will be renewed or extended in an inward direction due to the conical form of the walling 3 of the housing.

Furthermore, this constricting operation is also employed for bringing axial pressure to bear on the ball for indenting the part-spherical base seatings 5b (Figures 6 and 7) on the edges 5a. It will be observed that these seatings are separated by the corners 11a of the feed duct opening, which are clear of the ball when inserted to afiord by-passes for the ink. Alternatively to using the peening operation to impress the ball to form the base seatings on the edges 5a such seatings may be formed before the constricting operation by pressing an axially directed tool upon the top of the ball and forcing it upon the said edges.

The peening or constricting tool F, Figure 10, is

mounted: ob'aiiiallfiwith anvil B whi cli is m'ounted in a block E The tip to be operate'dupon is" fittetl over theanvil-withthe shoulder- 122z'-resting;uponits top. The head-18 of'the tool has-a conicalrecess:'lfiventedthrough the passage20- the-dimension"- and angle of the cone being such that it' contacts both the ball and the-rim 16. The head 18 is carried by a rod- 21 which is mounted for displacement" and has a' fixed collar z'z'navin a hook 222:" or'"t'aking the "impact of a hammer block 23 which is freely slidable on the rod 19.

Whenth'e' tool F hasbeen lowered so'tha't the conical retie'ss lii rests-on the outer surfa'ce'oftheri1rr-16 o'f- 'th'e tip 1, the hammer block 23 is releasedand falls' tiy gravity deliveringasharp'blow on' the collar; This im pact causesgthe con-ical recess -18to constriet the-rinr 16 upon the ball forming the lateral seatings 17a and 17b and at the same time causes the ball to indent the base seatings 5b (Figure 7) on the edge 5a.

It will be appreciated that there are other methods of retaining the ball in its housing by constricting the rim 16. Such alternative and known methods are for example the application of pressure by pneumatic or other means instead of the impact by a falling weight, or the spinning or rolling over of the rim 16 by a rotary die or set of rollers. In all these cases there is no difficulty in imparting sufiicient downward pressure on the ball in order to obtain by indentation the base seatings 5b.

The forms of writing instrument tip shown in Figures 1 and 2 die-cast by the core means and die-casting mould, such as illustrated in Figures 8 and 9, produce a tip body or carcass in finished state which does not require any subsequent machining.

In carrying out the invention where it is desired to endow a tip with ink creep inhibiting properties when such tip is made by any known method out of aluminum alloy, brass or any metal or alloy other than a non-creep tin alloy, or of a non-metallic material, such as for example, nylon, the tip, preferably before the insertion of the ball, is plated or externally coated with a circumferential continuous film of non-creep tin alloy. This may be effected by electric deposition, dipping (where such would be effective as in the case of a brass tip), spraying, chemical deposition or condensation under high vacuum.

The film may be applied to the whole of the exterior of the tip, to the external coned portion or to the part or zone of the latter which lies adjacent the ball.

In Figure 12 a tip is illustrated partially in outside elevation and partially in longitudinal section. On the sectional part of the cone a continuous film of non-creep tin alloy is represented by the thickened lines 24 while on the outside elevation at the lower sides of the Figure the non-creep tin alloy film is shown at 25 as a zone extending from immediately adjacent the ball to part way along the cone. If desired, the portion 26 which represents a known form of extension sleeve in rear of the cone over which is secured the forward end of a tubular ink reservoir, may also be plated or coated externally With non-creep tin alloy. It may be here mentioned that the tip shown in the other figures of the drawings may, if desired, be formed with an extension sleeve similar to the sleeve 26, instead of the socket 12, for receiving the ink reservoir.

I claim:

1. A tip for a ball-point writing instrument comprising a tubular member having a passage for ink therein, a shoulder in said passage adjacent to one end of said member, a ball mounted rotatably in said passage in engagement with said shoulder and extending beyond said one end, said member having at least on outer surface portion adjacent to said ball composed of an ink creep inhibiting tin alloy containing at least about 84% tin and a minor proportion of a hardener for tin.

hardener metal of the class consisting of antimony and cadmium.

4. The tip set forth in claim 1 in which said alloy consists essentially of about 84% tin and about 16% antimony.

5. The tip set forth in claim 1 in which said alloy consists essentially of about 89% tin, 9% antimony and 2% cadmium.

6. The tip set forth in claim 1 in which said tubular member is composed entirely of said tin alloy.

' References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Y Karafiat Jan. 5, Wood Dec. 11, Korsmo Oct. 28, Biro Dec. 11, Flummerfelt Nov. 18, Knobel July 28, Smith et al. Nov. 24,

FOREIGN PATENTS Switzerland May 1, Germany Apr. 30, Germany Nov. 20, Australia July 7, 

